Killings of Crime Suspects Alarm Hongkong Group

From March 18 to 22, seven alleged criminals were killed, including a
16-year-old boy, in separate shooting incidents reportedly perpetrated
by men riding on motorcycles in General Santos City. The police and
the city’s mayor quickly announced that the killings could have been
the result of a conflict within the group of criminals themselves
given that they all have criminal records. Mayor Pedro Acharon Jr.
was quoted to have told a local television station: “Iniisip namin
baka sila, kasi nag-o-onsehan na eh (We think they themselves are
killing each other)”.

One of the victims, 16-year old Rolim Dagano, was reported to have
also been included in the supposed “list” of persons allegedly
involved in the theft of motorcycles. Prior to this targeted
killings, murders of motorcyclists and the subsequent theft of their
motorcycles has continue unabated — at least ten were reported in
January this year alone. Rolim’s previous records of theft were also
mentioned by the police, apparently to illustrate his supposed
connections in criminal acts, prior to concluding their
investigation.

However, apart from Rolim, the remainder of the victims were not
reported to have been in the supposed list of criminals. Before these
murders took place, the city’s police chief, Senior Superintendent
Robert Po, issued orders to his field commanders demanding that they
“dismantle” the group of criminals involved in the theft of
motorcycles. It was after this demand by Po that these murders
started taken place. Incidents of victims who are killed inside their
residence in the presence of their relatives, outside a chapel and
even places close to their residence have taken place. All the
perpetrators have gone unidentified and unpunished for these murders.

There were sweeping allegations and immediate conclusions justifying
these murders but the police and the city’s mayor has not given any
reasonable explanations why they themselves had to justify these
murders and why this class of people must be, and deserves to be
killed. When crimes are committed it is the obligation of the police
to investigate and discover those who are responsible. Whether or not
the murder victim had a criminal record is no justification for not
carrying out a legitimate investigation. Murder is a criminal act and
it is the duty of the police to hold those responsible to account.

By failing to do so, they have already denied the victims’ families
of any remedies, particularly of knowing the circumstances of their
loved ones’ death. The claims of their relatives that their loved
ones were not criminals, were never involved in any criminal activity
and might have been killed by mistake are no longer looked into. The
murder of alleged criminals also buries any possibility for them to
defend themselves. Additionally, such killings also force the
families of the victim to live with the stigma of one of their
deceased member being branded as a criminal. It deprives them of
equality before the law and equal protection of the law because the
law enforcement authorities and the local officials have themselves
justified these murders. They have already concluded they were
nothing but “war amongst criminals”.

Justifying these murders has given blanket impunity to the
perpetrators who continuously shot their targets dead in open public.
The police and the city’s mayor act by prematurely concluding the
reasons for these murders, thereby diluting the notion that the
police authorities have a responsibility to investigate all crimes
and to punish the offenders. They have abandoned these fundamental
responsibility in protecting the lives of every citizen by not
carrying out adequate action to ensure that no one is arbitrarily
deprived of his life—whether he or she is a criminal or not.

If, as the police and the mayor have pointed out it is in fact
‘gang warfare’ then the authorities should have a
starting point for their investigations. They should be able to find
enough information to identify, arrest and charge the perpetrators in
court; however, no one in these “groups” have so far been charged for
these murders. Thus the credibility of the police and their alleged
complicity into these murders by their failure to take action should
be looked into.

The police should give explanation on the existence of the reported
list and how they came about it. Is the listing of persons as alleged
criminals involved in motorcycle thefts a sanction to murder them?

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About AHRC: The Asian Human Rights Commission is a regional
non-governmental organisation monitoring and lobbying human rights
issues in Asia. The Hong Kong-based group was founded in 1984.